Zedder,
The section you quote sounds like the biggest bunch of sour-grapes ever. To honestly say that the UK has had it bad, is small minded in the extreme.
passed in less than a lifetime from being the mightiest empire in history, governing a quarter of mankind, to being a feeble little offshore island whose so-called leaders have lost the will and the courage, indeed the ability, to govern at all.
Oh dear, how sad. You don't get to be an empire any more, running colonies and extracting labour and produce from dominions. How tough it must be.
For an example of self-centred Britain, look no further than Maggie and the 80s, personal profit above all else, sod community.